00:00For many families, the amount of financial support they receive can have a direct impact on everyday life,
00:05from paying household bills to putting food on the table.
00:08That's why the benefit cap has once again become the focus of political debate in Parliament.
00:13The discussion was prompted by Labour MP Paula Barker,
00:16who called on the government to review the policy following the abolition of the former two-child limit earlier this
00:21year.
00:22Some of the poorest families still see their benefit capped,
00:25and there are shockingly high levels of child poverty in parts of my constituency.
00:2970% of children are growing up in poverty in Arundel Ward, and 61% in Prince's Park.
00:35The cap hits families with high needs, two-thirds are single-parent families,
00:39more than half of whom had a child under five, and over a quarter a child under two.
00:44They are often forced to turn to food banks to survive as a result,
00:48and the Trussell Trust provided 1,300 food parcels to children in Liverpool Waverture last year.
00:53Will the government build on the abolition of the two-child limits,
00:56and review the benefit cap to ensure that families with very young children are protected from poverty?
01:02The government says the benefit cap serves a different purpose.
01:05Social Security Minister Sir Stephen Timms told the House of Commons that being in work remains the best way to
01:10avoid poverty,
01:11and says the cap provides what he described as a modest but significant incentive for people to enter employment and
01:17progress in work.
01:18He also stressed the cap doesn't apply to everyone.
01:21People receiving universal credit because they're disabled or because they care for someone with a disability
01:26are among those exempt from the policy.
01:28So, let's see.
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